Page 28 of 115
40
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
The present state of the multi-storey resettlement building programme is as follows. The estates at Tai Hang Tung and Li Cheng Uk have been completed and now house about 78,000 persons. Stages I and II of the redevelopment of Shek Kip Mei have been finished and work is about to start on Stage III which will be completed by early 1958. This redevelopment of Shek Kip Mei will not only provide more satisfactory accommodation for the persons formerly living in the two-storey buildings which were put up as an emergency measure immediately after the Shek Kip Mei fire but will also release seven large sites having a total area of over 7 acres which will be used for a large new Government clinic (now under construction), two large schools, a market, and three much needed recreation spaces.
At Hung Hom three of the four blocks of a small estate for about 9,000 persons have been completed, but 375 of the rooms in those blocks cannot be used because of blasting operations on Tai Wan Hill which are still going on in order to form the site for the fourth block which will not now be completed until early 1958. The reason for this delay is the unexpectedly large amount of rock which has been encountered in the site formation work.
At Lo Fu Ngam, another small estate for about 7,000 persons on which work started in November last year, there have been similar but less serious site formation difficulties and it is now anticipated that the first two blocks in that estate will be ready by the middle of next month.
The question whether the present rate of construction of multi-storey buildings can be speeded up has been given the most searching examination. The first problem was to find a sufficient number of suitable large sites. That was overcome some months ago when ten sites were reserved which, when developed, will provide accommodation for about 250,000 persons. Having found the sites the next problem was to work out a plan for their speedy development. The main difficulty was that easy sites such as those used for the big estates at Shek Kip Mei, Tai Hang Tung and Li Cheng Uk no longer existed. The sites available either presented serious site formation or clearance difficulties or required the provision of a piped water supply, storm water drains and sewers.
After careful consideration the conclusion reached was that the key to rapid progress in the development of these ten sites was to develop the largest of them first, a site of 29 acres at Wong Tai Sin on which accommodation for 63,000 persons can be built.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
41
The Wong Tai Sin scheme, which involves roads and drainage works costing nearly $3 million, has therefore been given top priority in the Public Works Department. Tenders for the piling for the first nine blocks have already been called and piling operations on the site for the first block are expected to start not later than the 25th of next month. Construction work will start about a fortnight later and 14 of the 24 blocks should be completed during the period November 1957 to May 1958.
A necessary preliminary to the development of the Wong Tai Sin Estate was the building of alternative accommodation at Lo Fu Ngam for the 5,000 odd persons now living at Wong Tai Sin. Surveys by the Resettlement Department revealed the fact that there were at Wong Tai Sin a number of families occupying fairly spacious accommodation of a better type than that found on the sites for earlier resettlement estates and that these families varied considerably in size and family incomes. It is for this reason that the Lo Fu Ngam Estate, which has been specially designed to meet the needs of the families now at Wong Tai Sin, will have six different sizes and types of accommodation. As was announced in the Press on Saturday there will be one special block containing 60 self-contained flats each having a total floor area of 250 sq. ft., plus a balcony of 30 sq. ft. for which the monthly rent, inclusive of rates and water charges, will be $45. There will also be 10 larger flats, having an additional room of 120 sq. ft. and additional balcony space, for which the inclusive monthly rent will be $65. Each of these 70 flats will have its own kitchen, shower and W.C.
In the other 7 blocks at Lo Fu Ngam there will be rooms of four different sizes with rents ranging from $10 to $28 a month. The ground floor rooms will, as is now the normal practice, be used for businesses such as shops, restaurants and cafes.
Mr. P. D. Au also inquired about the progress of the resettlement factory project at Chengshawan. I am glad to be able to say that piling has now started and that the building is expected to be completed before the end of September this year. 93,000 sq. ft. of floor space will then be available for a great variety of workshops using power-driven machinery which cannot at present be offered resettlement.
Page 28 of 115
Page 28 of 115
40
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
The present state of the multi-storey resettlement building programme is as follows. The estates at Tai Hang Tung and Li Cheng Uk have been completed and now house about 78,000 persons. Stages I and II of the redevelopment of Shek Kip Mei have been finished and work is about to start on Stage III which will be completed by early 1958. This redevelopment of Shek Kip Mei will not only provide more satisfactory accommodation for the persons formerly living in the two-storey buildings which were put up as an emergency measure immediately after the Shek Kip Mei fire but will also release seven large sites having a total area of over 7 acres which will be used for a large new Govern- ment clinic (now under construction), two large schools, a market, and three much needed recreation spaces.
At Hung Hom three of the four blocks of a small estate for about 9,000 persons have been completed, but 375 of the rooms in those blocks cannot be used because of blasting operations on Tai Wan Hill which are still going on in order to form the site for the fourth block which will not now be completed until early 1958. The reason for this delay is the unexpectedly large amount of rock which has been encountered in the site formation work.
At Lo Fu Ngam, another small estate for about 7,000 persons on which work started in November last year, there have been similar but less serious site formation difficulties and it is now anticipated that the first two blocks in that estate will be ready by the middle of next month.
The question whether the present rate of construction of multi-storey buildings can be speeded up has been given the most searching examination. The first problem was to find a sufficient number of suitable large sites. That was overcome some months ago when ten sites were reserved which, when developed, will provide accommodation for about 250,000 persons. Having found the sites the next problem was to work out a plan for their speedy development. The main difficulty was that easy sites such as those used for the big estates at Shek Kip Mei, Tai Hang Tung and Li Cheng Uk no longer existed. The sites available either presented serious site formation or clearance difficulties or required the provision of a piped water supply, storm water drains and sewers.
After careful consideration the conclusion reached
was that the key to rapid progress in the development of these ten sites was to develop the largest of them first, a site of 29 acres at Wong Tai Sin on which accommodation for 63,000 persons can be built.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
41
The Wong Tai Sin scheme, which involves roads and drain- age works costing nearly $3 million, has therefore been given top priority in the Public Works Department. Tenders for the piling for the first nine blocks have already been called and piling operations on the site for the first block are expected to start not later than the 25th of next month. Construction work will start about a fortnight later and 14 of the 24 blocks should be completed during the period November 1957 to May 1958.
A necessary preliminary to the development of the Wong Tai Sin Estate was the building of alternative accommodation at Lo Fu Ngam for the 5,000 odd persons now living at Wong Tai Sin. Surveys by the Resettlement Department revealed the fact that there were at Wong Tai Sin a number of families occupying fairly spacious accommodation of a better type than that found on the sites for earlier resettlement estates and that these families varied considerably in size and family incomes. It is for this reason that the Lo Fu Ngam Estate, which has been specially designed to meet the needs of the families now at Wong Tai Sin, will have six different sizes and types of accommodation. As was announced in the Press on Saturday there will be one special block containing 60 self-contained flats each having a total floor area of 250 sq. ft., plus a balcony of 30 sq. ft. for which the monthly rent, inclusive of rates and water charges, will be $45. There will also be 10 larger flats, having an additional room of 120 sq. ft. and additional balcony space. for which the inclusive monthly rent will be $65. Each of these 70 flats will have its own kitchen, shower and W.C.
In the other 7 blocks at Lo Fu Ngam there will be rooms of four different sizes with rents ranging from $10 to $28 a month. The ground floor rooms will, as is now the normal practice, be used for businesses such as shops, restaurants and cafes.
Mr. P. D. Au also inquired about the progress of the resettle- ment factory project at Chengshawan. I am glad to be able to say that piling has now started and that the building is expected to be completed before the end of September this year. 93,000 sq. ft. of floor space will then be available for a great variety of workshops using power-driven machinery which cannot at present be offered resettlement.
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